Antiglare shield for automobiles



Feb. 11.1925. 1,526,346

' A. E.`K|V|K|NK AHTIGLARE SHIELD FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Jan. 2, 1924 Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST E. KIVIKINK, OF INDIANA. HARBOR, INDIANA.

SHIELD FOR AUTOMOBILES.

lApplication led January 2,' 1924. Serial No. 683,907.

Shieldsfor Automobiles, of which the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to an anti-glare shield for automobiles of the type in which a transparent curtain of flexible materialis wound upon a roller for retiring it from position andv storing it while not in use. Shields of this kind employingcelluloid or equivalent material for their transparent curtains, are greatly impaired in a comparatively short time by the abrasion of the celluloid upon itself, and particularly with intervening and unrolled. t

The object of the present invention is to avoid this disadvantage, and the invention proceeds upon the principle of winding with the curtain a soft fabrlc or other flexible material which will keep the convolutions of the curtain from contacting one with. another; means being provided for automatically gathering and storing thelining material in a position which will prevent its interference with the use of the curtain when the curtain is unwound, and paying back the'liner to the curtain roll as the curtain is rewound. `In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a lspring roller is employed for winding the curtain and liner together, and a second spring roller for gathering and storing the linergwhen not in use; the spring of the curtainv4 roller being of a capacity which enables it to dominate the sprin of 40 the lining roller and cause unwinding o the latter as the liner is required to be wound upon the former.

Another object of the invention is to p rovide improved means for retaining the pull cord and through it the free end of a curtain when the curtain is unwound and in position of use, such means being designed with a special view of rendering it automatic in engaging the curtain cord by the mere act of pulling' the cord and through it the curtain until the latter reaches the unwound position, and for convenient release of the cord when it is desired 'to have the curtainl dust as the curtain Ais rolled Inl the accompanying drawingl Figure 1 is an elevational view lshowing the fragments of an automobile windshield, and having associated therewith an antiglare shield constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2"- of Figure 1, on an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is ahorizontal section in a plane coinciding with the axes of the two spring rollers, also on an enlarged scale.

Figuret is a top plan view of the releas-- able detent which engages and retains'the pull cord.`

Figure 5 is a side view of the same.l

Figure 6 is a section on 'fthe line 6"--6x of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 isV a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating a, modified arrangement of shield in which the invention may be embodied.

l represents the windshield of an automobile, and 2 an anti-glare curtain adapted .to be drawn to a position over a portion of the wind-shield which will adapt the curtain to intercept the drivers line of vision, and'by coloring, or other condition in the curtain, tempering the light from an automobile traveling in the opposite direction. It has heretofore been proposed to mount such a curtain through means, such as ythe roller 3 (Figures '2 and 3) in a housing 4 in orderto vretire the curtain from position of use when. not needed, and hold it within convenient reach for instant use whenv needed, such an arrangement being shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,468,118, issued lSeptember 18, 1928, jointly to this inventor and Emil Nilson, but such method of storing the curtain has been found to impair,

erably of soft fabric, but which may e of any suitable material capable of winding upon the roller 3 with the curtain 2, and

this liner, while attached at one end to the roller 3, has its opposite end attached to an independent roller 6 which pays out the liner as it is wound upon the roller 3, and

thus serves the purpose of introducing between the convolutions of the curtain 2 a packing material lwhich avoids the abrasion referred to.

Rollers 3 and 6 are preferably provided, respectively, with windlng springs 7 and 8, which normally seek to revolve the rollers in the direction to wind the flexible members secured thereto, so that roller 6 is positively wound and caused to gather up the liner 5 as the curtain 2 is unwound; but the spring 7 is materially stronger than the spring 8, so that when curtain 2 1s released to the winding action of the roller 3, said spring 7 will overcome t-he s ring 8 of the roller 6 and draw the liner 5 rom the latter as it is needed. A secondary advantage in the described arrangement, wherein the liner 5 is under tension at all times between the two rollers, is that it insures a tight andv tain 2 is drawn downward from the roller- 3as shown in Figures 1 to 3, or the several features of the invention may be embodied in an arrangement in which a roller housing 4a is mounted on a vertical axis, curtain 2a moves horizontally with relation thereto, and has traveling support at its upper edge through means of an arm 9. j

In order to control the curtain 2 a p-ull cord 10 is attached to the lower binder 11 of the curtain, and this cord works through a n automatic gripper 12, comprising a stationary jaw 13 and a movable jaw 14, the cord 10 being provided with an enlargement 15,.preferably` in the form of a sphere, which is adapted to force its way past the jaws 13, 14 bymomentary displacement of the movable jaw 14, and thereafter be engaged by the jaws to resist upward movement of the curtain under the influence of its roller 3. J aw 14 is resiliently pressed to its duty by means of a spring 16, which spring develops in the jaw- 14 ample resistance to the spreading of the jaws by the, enlargement 15 under any upward pull whlch the spring roller 3 is capable of exerting, but with a force that yields Y"to the superior spreading eii'ort of the enlargement 15 under a manual pull upon the cord 10 in a downward direction. With this arrangement, when it is desired to retire the curtain from position of use, it is simply necessary to manually displace the movable jaw, 14 in opposition to the spring 16, and

this is accomplished by pressing upon a thrust member 17, in the form of a yoke, connected to jaw 14, through means such as screws 18 that work in slots in the frame 19, one of which slots is shown at 2O in Figure 5 while the other is shown at 21 in Figure 6.. Yoke 17 is held in assembly with the frame V19 while permitting relative movement thereon, through means of slot and pin connection 22 (Figure 5).

-I claim:

1. In an anti-glare shield, a curtain, a roller for winding said curtain, a second roller, and a curtain liner wound upon said second roller and connected for winding jointly with the curtain upon the curtain roller; each of said rollers being provided with means rendering it independently self winding as the element wound thereon is relieved of tension.

2. In an anti-glare shield, "a curtain, a roller for windin said curtain, a second roller, and a curtaln liner wound upon said second roller and connected for winding jointly with the curtain upon the curtain roller; said second roller being provided 'l with a spring which causes the liner to be wound thereon as the curtain is'unwoun fromy the curtain roller. L

3. In an anti-glare shield, a curtain, a (roller for windin said curtain, a isecond roller, and a curta1n liner wound upon said second roller and connected for winding jointly with the curtain upon the curtain roller; said second roller being provided with a spring which causes the liner to be wound thereon as the curtain is unwound from tire curtain roller; and the curtain roller being provided with a spring which 4revolves it in the direction of windin and overcomes the lspring of the liner ro er in winding the curtain and liner jointly.

4. In combination with a curtain, apull cord, an enlargement' on said cord, and a gripper, comprising jaws between which sald cord is free to travel; said jaws being relatively movable to enlarge the space between them, and said enlargement and jaws being constructed to coact and force the jaws apart and pass the enlargement between them in the movement of the enlargement in .one direction and to engage said enlargement and resist its movement in the opposite direction.l

5. A gripper for pull cords, comprising fixed and-movable jaws, andv a spring for resiliently pressing the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw; sald movable jaw having a camming surface which renders it displaceable under the action of an enlargement on the cord moving between the jaws in one direction, but said jaws being adapted to resist passage of said enlargement in the opposite direction.

6. A gripper for pull cords, comprisingn 1 30 fixed and movable jaws, and a spring for resiliently pressing the movable jaw t0- wards the fixed j aw; said movable jaw having a cumming surface which renders it displaceable under the action of an enlargement on the cord moving between the jaws in one direction, but said jaws being adapted to resist passage of said enlargement in the opposite direction; and said movable jaw being provided with a thrust member through which it may be positively displaced to release the enlargement.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 11th day of December, 1923.

AUGST E. KIvIKINK. 

